Lethal Standoff by DiAnn Mills

Lethal Standoff
by DiAnn Mills

ISBN-13: 9781496485090
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Tyndale Fiction
Released: September 3, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Hostage negotiator Carrington Reed is called to the scene when reports come in that fifteen hostages are being held by the Kendrix brothers in an abandoned house in south Texas. When she arrives on site, Carrington quickly learns that the brothers are armed and refuse to release their victims, a group of undocumented immigrants, until the local police identify their father’s murderer.

Working closely with Levi Ehrlich, a handsome investigative reporter who has covered some of Carrington’s negotiations in the past, she finds herself being undeniably drawn to him. Carrington digs deeper into the death of the Kendrixes’ father and begins to notice that some details surrounding his death aren’t adding up.

As Carrington investigates the brothers’ claims and tries to piece together their motive for taking innocent people captive, it soon becomes clear that they are trying to hide something and that revenge for their father’s death may not be what they’re really bargaining for after all. To protect the hostages and ensure the brothers don’t carry out the rest of their sinister plot, Carrington must get to the bottom of one family’s secret and the truth they’re trying so hard to hide before time runs out.


My Review:
Lethal Standoff is a Christian romantic suspense novel. The characters were likable, complex, realistic people, if a little crazy. (Hey, you know that place we went where we both got badly injured in an unexpected attack and our law friends told us not to do that again? Yeah? Want to go back again? Count me in!) Carrington's a skilled negotiator who genuinely cares about everyone involved in the situations she's called out on. Levi's an investigative reporter who wants to present the facts to the reader, not give news a political spin. After the hostage negotiation ends, their role should have been done. But some aspects of what happened just didn't add up, plus they cared about the devastated families. They followed up with those involved to try to figure out why things happened as they did...only to uncover a bucket-load of secrets. Carrington and Levi worked well together and made an effective team.

The suspense was from physical danger to several characters, including Levi and Carrington. I expected the 'twist' at the end, but I'm beginning to think I've read too many novels to be surprised by a correctly foreshadowed twist. Levi was a Messianic Jew while Carrington struggled to believe in a good God with all the suffering she saw around her. There were no sex scenes. There was no bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting, suspenseful novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.